Mutilated gearing



April 1947 A. H. DAVIS, JR 2,418,701

MUTILATED GEARING Filed Feb. 11, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

BY/RCH/EALD H [1W5 Jiz Patented Apr. 8, 1947 MUTILATED 'GEARING Archibald E. Davis, .l'r., University Heights, Ohio, assignor to The Apex Electrical Manufacturing Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application February 11, 1944, Serial No. 521,914

3 Claims.

This invention relates to timing devices and. more particularly to a hydraulic timer for a laundry machine or the like in which clutches, valves and similar mechanisms are to be intermittently operated at predetermined intervals.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide in a timer of the type having a substantially constant speed driving means and a cam shaft novel mechanism for intermittently advancing the cam shaft with a jump movement whereby various controls operated by the timer are positively and rapidly moved between open and closed positions.

Another object of the invention is toprovide in a timer having a, substantially constant speed drive gear and a cam shaft mechanism for interconnecting the drive gear and cam shaft whereby the cam shaft will be intermittently advanced and at a speed substantially corresponding to the speed of the drive gear,

Further objects and advantages relating to efficiency in operation and economies in manufacture will appear from the following description and the appended drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is an elevation with parts broken away showing an hydraulic control made according t my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken along the lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 2a is a fragmentary vertical section taken along the line 2a2a of Fig. 2 showing the relation of a locking disc and composite pinion which I may employ.

Figure 3 is an elevation showing the hydraulic valve block and time controlled assembly made according to my invention.

Figure 3a is a section taken along the plane 3--3 of Figure 3, showing a uni-directional clutch embodied in my invention.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken along the plane l@ of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to Figure 4, showing the fluid valve actuation.

Numerous attempts have heretofore been made to provide a reliable low cost timing mechanism to control the valves, clutches, brakes and similar devices employed in an automatic washing machine or the like to operate such devices at predetermined timed intervals. Such attempts have included mechanical timers wherein a pawl and ratchet progressively advances cams or the like to sequentially operate the various devices accomplishing the washing, rinsing and extracting cycle. Such attempts have also included electrical timing devices wherein cams or the like are progressively advanced to open and close contacts which establish circuits to solenoids which furnish the motive power for operating the valves, clutches and the like. According to my invention the fluid line pressure available from the domestic water supply is utilized to furnish the motive power opening and closing valves and to actuate clutches, brakes and the like so as to carry out the desired operations of an automatic washing machine.

Referring to the drawings, a preferred form of my invention comprises a timer motor 5, a gear reduction and cam assembly 6 and a hydraulic valve block 7, constructed and arranged so that at predetermined intervals devices such as the actuated valve 8 are operated by a bellows 9 connected by conduit 10 with the valve block 1. The motor shaft 1 l is provided with a worm I2 which i in meshed engagement with a worm gear l3 mounted for free rotation on a shaft 14. Secured to the worm gear I3 is a notched locking disc 15 and a two-toothed gear Hi. This arrangement provides that upon each revolution of the worm gear E3 the two teeth I? and IS on the gear l6 engage and advance the pinion H9. The pinion i9 is a composite pinion in that it has six teeth equally spaced circumferentially and although all the teeth traverse a minor portion of the pinion length alternate teeth such as 20 extend through a major portion of the pinion length, as best viewed in Figure 2; to substantially traverse notch l5a provided in disc IS. The short teeth 2| stop short of the plane of the right hand face of disc It so that a slight clearance is provided between the end of teeth 2 I anddisc I5; Thus, the pinion is provided with alternate long and short teeth with adjacent teeth in the instant case being spaced apart at an angle of 60. Referring to Fig. 2, the pinion i9 is illustrated so that one long tooth 26 is in a vertical position at the bottom of the pinion and the other two long teeth are at the upper portion of the pinion with each tooth extending at an angle of 60 from a vertical plane connecting the axes of shaft l4 and pinion 59. One short tooth 2-0 is at the top of the pinion in the said vertical .plane and equi-distant from the two upper long teeth. The diameter of disc l5 with the pinion in the position illustrated in Fig. 2 is such that the disc periphery just clears the root diameter of the pinion which is substantially the same as the shaft or bearing ends of the pinion and also slightly clears the faces of the two upper long teeth 2'0. Therefore, the pinion is temporarily held in this position since the portion of disc l5 intermediate the long teeth pretime by operation of the manual control. cordingly, the end of the shaft 28 which projects vents rotation of the pinion and the top short tooth 2| is in a position to be engaged by the teeth l'l-IB of gear I6 as the unit comprising worm gear I 3, disc l and mutilated gear 16 is rotated. When the top short tooth 2| is engaged by the teeth of gear I6, pinion l9 will be permitted to rotate since the following long tooth 20 will be received in the slot l5a of disc l5 and rotation will continue until the following short tooth is at the top of the pinion and the long teeth at either side of the short tooth prevent further rotation in the manner previously described. Thus, the pinion I9 will be advanced one short tooth with each revolution of'the unit including worm gear i3 or two pinion teeth.

Since pinion I9 is in engagement with the uniformly spaced teeth of full gear 22 this gear is advanced two teeth by each movement of pinion is or for each revolution of the worm gear in mesh with the motor shaft worm l2.

The full gear 22 is secured by screws, pins and 'the like to a one-tooth gear 23 which is arranged to mesh with a pinion 24 which has an axial extent sufiicient to traverse the teeth on a full gear 25. Upon each complete revolution of the gear 22 it will be observed that the single tooth 23a on gear 23 advances the six-toothed pinion 24 one tooth and that the movement of said pinion 24 is transmitted to the driven gear 25 of the gear train, which gear is pinned as at 26 to the driven shaft 14. It will also be understood that the driven gear 25 and the shaft l4 pinned thereto partakes of no movement in response to the turning of the motor shaft I l until the various mutilated gears of the train are all in driving engage- 'ment so that the shaft l4 has a jump move- 'ment.' The onIy time a jump movement of cam shaft 23 occurs is when the single tooth 23a of gear 23 rotates pinion 24 and resultantly the cam shaft driving gear 25. Since gears I6, 22, 23 and 25 are substantially the same diameter and since pinions l9 and 24 are substantially the same di-' ameter the jump movement or advance of the cam shaft will be substantially at the speed at which the drive worm gear I3 is rotating. This jump movement is an important feature of the invention in that it intermittently advances the cams with a rapid action so that the valves controlled by the cams do not dwell in a partially open condition, which dwellwould adversely eifeot the satisfactory operation of the actuated devices such as the clutch and brake.

Driven shaft I4 is coupled by means of a roller clutch 21 to a cam shaft 28. The cam shaft 28 is'supported on the block 29 by a pair of spaced arms 30 and 3| for free rotation in said arms. Keyed to the shaft'28 by means of keys 32-3334 are a series of cam discs 3536--3138--39 arranged to actuate the fluid valves controlling the operation of the various mechanisms influencing the timed cycle of the machine. Preferably the manual control or means for setting the timer made according to my invention is arranged so that the timing cyclemay be advanced at any beyond the cam disc 39 is coupled by a key as at 70 to a flexible 'torquecable H but which terminates in the manual control knob 12 conveniently mounted on the cabinet wall or other part of the machine 13. It will be understood that at any time during the complete operating cycle of the timing mechanism the cam shaft 28 may ''be advanced in the direction of the arrow 46 (Fig. 3a) and that such'advancing movement will and 4d.

. 4 not be imparted to the driving part 40 of the roller clutch due to the fact that such advancing movement of the driven part of the clutch causes the rollers 4344 to move into the deeper part of the recess in the member 42. This arrangement provides that where it is only desired to operate a mechanism controlled by one of the fluid outlets 59-63 for a portion of its normal operating time, the manual control knob 12 may be advanced through any portion of its normal operating time. In the event that fluid pressure outlet 59 were arranged to maintain a washing machine clutch in engagement for seven minutes, the manual control knob 32 may be advanced through any part of the seven minutes so as to reduce the washing time as desired. This arrangement also provides that where it is desired to use the automatic washing machine as an extractor only, the manual control knob may be advanced entirely through the washing and rinsing phases of the operation to the point where only the extractor is-operated. It will be understood that the manual control knob 72 may be provided with appropriate indicia to indicate the position of the shaft 48 and thus indicate the various phases of the machines operating cycle.

The clutch 2i includes an outer sleeve or driving member 46 which is pinned to the driven shaft M of the gear reduction assembly as at 4|. The member 48 encompasses the driven part of the clutch 42 which includes a pair of rollers 43 The member 42 is pinned as at 45 to the cam shaft 28. The uni-directional clutch provides that upon rotation of the member 42 in the direction of the arrow 46 (Figure 3a), the rollers 43-46 are advanced into driving engagement to establish a drive in the direction of the arrow 46 between the member 40 and the cam shaft 28.

The base member 29 is provided with a lever pin 5d upon which are pivotally mounted a series of levers such as 5| disposed in operative engagement between the cams 35-39 and corresponding valve plungers 52 as shown in'Figure 4. The lever 5i is normally urged toward the cam disc by a spring 53 carried in the base block 29 and the spring 54 carried by the valve.

Referring particularly to Figures 3, 4 and 5, the

valve block 56 includes two longitudinally extending bores 5! and 58, the bore 58 being a fluid pressure inlet bore and the bore 51 being a drain or fluid pressure outlet bore. In the embodiment of my invention illustrated five transverse passageways such as 596l-6l--62-63 are provided which lead to an actuating bellows such as 9 (Figure 1) whereby fluid pressure coming through passageway 58 may be admitted to the bellows 9 so as to actuate a valve or the like 8. It will be understood that each of the passageways 59-63 terminates in an actuating bellows such as 9 so as to operate a clutch, brake or valve or other moving part of the machine to be controlled.

Referring to Figure 4, it will be observed that the lever 5| is engaged with the low part ofthe cam disc 39 and that the spring 54 is holding the twoway valve ('55 in a position whereby there is no fluid fiow from the inlet 58 to the outlet 6i? and that any fluid pressure in the bellows 9 connected to outlet 60 is relieved by way of the outlet passage 51. When, however, the cam disc 39 is advanced in the direction of the arrow 39a the valve 65 is moved to the position shown in Figure 5 whereby fluid pressure from the passageway 58 is directed to'the passageway 66 leading to the operated device. 8-9.. The movement 'of the valve 55 closes the fluid flow with respect to the drain or outlet passageway 57 and thus, the full force of the line pressure introduced through passageway 58 is directed to the bellows 9 and the device such as the valve 8 would be operated thereby. Preferably the inlet passageway 53 is provided with a reducing valve El so that the domestic fluid line pressure entering conduit 63 is reduced to a predetermined minimum such as for instance fifteen pounds per square inch to assure a uniform fluid pressure actuation on the bellows 9. As soon as the cam disc 39 has been advanced by the jump movement heretofore described so as to bring the high point of the cam disc 39 out of engagement with the lever the valve 65 is restored to the position shown in Figure 4 whereby the fluid pressure theretofore directed to the bellows 9 is released to the draining or outlet passageway 57.

In a satisfactorily operating form of my device, the motor shaft H speed is reduced by the gear train l3l5l6-22-2325 so that the cam shaft 28 is intermittently advanced and accomplishes one full revolution in about thirty-seven minutes. During this cycle of thirty-seven minutes, each of the valves such as 65 are actuated so as to control five different operated devices on an automatic machine. According to my invention a plurality of operated devices such as brakes, clutches, flow valves and drain valves may be operated in a predetermined timed sequence so as to fully controlall of the phases of an automatically operated machine such as for instance an automatic washing machine. It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that my invention is not limited to a washing machine, but that the hydraulic timer disclosed may be applied to any device including operated mechanisms which are designed to be operated at predetermined timed intervals.

Although I have described and shown one form of my invention in considerable detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that numerous modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims:

I claim:

1. A mechanism for interconnecting a drive gear having a substantially constant speed with a cam shaft adapted to be intermittently advanced and wherein during advancing movement of the cam shaft the rate of advance substantially corresponds to the rate of the drive gear, said mechanism comprising a mutilated gear fixed to the drive gear and having teeth only at a minor peripheral area, a pinion having teeth adapted to engage the teeth of the mutilated gear, means preventing rotation of the pinion when out of engagement with the mutilated gear teeth, a full gear engaging the pinion, a second mutilated gear fixed to the full gear, a second pinion adapted to be intermittently driven by the second mutilated gear, a second full gear engaging the second pinion and operatively associated with the cam shaft, the gears being of substantially the same diameter, and the pinions being of substantially the same diameter whereby during advancing movement of the cam shaft the R. P. M. of the cam shaft will substantially correspond to the R. P. M. of the drive gear.

2. A mechanism for interconnecting a drive gear having a substantially constant speed with a camshaft adapted to be intermittently advanced whereby during periods of advance the cam shaft will be rotated at substantially the same speed as the drive gear, said mechanism comprising a shaft, a drive gear freely rotatable thereon, a mutilated gear mounted on the shaft and fixed to the drive gear, a pinion adapted to be intermittently rotated by the mutilated gear, a full gear freely rotatable on the shaft engaging the pinion, means preventing rotation of the pinion when out of engagement with the mutilated gear teeth whereby the full gear Will be intermittently advanced, a second mutilated gear mounted on the shaft and fixed to the full gear having a relatively small toothed area, a second pinion adapted to be intermittently rotated by the second mutilated gear, a second full gear engaging the second pinion and mounted on the shaft, mean preventing free movement of the second full gear when the second pinion is out of engagement with the second mutilated gear, means operatively connecting the second full gear with the cam shaft, and the pitch diameters of said gears and pinions being such that the cam shaft is rotated at sub-- stantially the speed of the drive gear during periods of advance.

3. A mechanism as described in claim 2 and wherein the means connecting the second full gear with the cam shaft comprises a uni-directional clutch and a manual control whereby the cam shaft may be manually advanced relative to the said second full gear.

ARCHIBALD H. DAVIS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,852,692 Bryan Apr. 5, 1932 2,080,924 Logan May 1'7, 1937 1,460,363 Bethel July 3, 1923 1,743,511 Allen Jan. 14, 1930 2,265,114 Hartley Dec. 2, 1941 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 264,396 British 1927 286,819 British 1928 

